Flashpoint Beyond Gossip For DC Comics’ Divine Continuum: Part One

Last week saw DC Comics republish the Flashpoint Batman with Thomas Wayne as Batman in his world with Martha Wayne as the Joker, and his dead son. And it’s all ahead of Flashpoint Beyond next, which is not only a sequel to that comic but also to Doomsday Clock, as well as giving us a themed villain to hunt down, The Clockwork Killer. So what twelve gossipy gobbets about Flashpoint Beyond can I unearth to match the twelve hours on a clock face? How about we start with some Flashpoint Beyond Gossip: Part One?

1. It’s All About The Time Masters. The time-preserving heroes led by Rip Hunter and knee-deep in Flashpoint Beyond. So 5G has been averted. It is notable that the only time 5G was ever actually mentioned in a comic book was in Doomsday Clock. It was originally to be a reboot of the DC Multiverse as one long timeline stretching over 80 years, with principal DC Comics figures now having aged out and replaced by newcomers.

But the instigator of this, DC Publisher Dan DiDio was fired and the 5G plan was scrapped, though vestigial shadows remain – Wonder Woman being the first emerging superhero who inspired the existence of the Justice Society of America, Jon Kent ageing up and replacing Superman on Earth, the older Superman leading The Authority, the death of Alfred Pennyworth, Jace Fox becoming The Next Batman and more.

As well as 5G – now averted – notice that mention of The Time Masters as the name of the next big Crisis. This Batman, Mime and Marionette are in the Time Masters lair, full of Watchmen paraphernalia. As well as their big blackboard of the future. Flashpoint Beyond will be all about The Time Masters and their involvement with Batman, Flashpoint and the world of Doomsday Clock, even if the solicitations haven’t mentioned them yet. Even one of their regular enemies, the time-travelling and parallel-universe-aware Degaton is part of all of this.

2. Divine Continuum – the new name for DC Comics? Courtesy of the Loki TV series, the MCU has a Divine Timeline. Well, DC now has a Divine Continuum in which much else resides. The notes in the Time Masters may need some revision, with the Omniverse being placed in a Space category and Hypertime being placed in Time, and having Limbo and Vanishing Point added beneath it…

3, Clark and Anita. And so we meet Mime and Marionette again. In Doomsday Clock, they had a child who was taken by Dr Manhattan, named Clark, given his powers and then handed to Dan and Sally Dreiberg (hence Sally and Clark above). Mime was pregnant in Doomsday Clock, they have another daughter now, Anita. But what happened to their other kid, Clark?

4. Batman Takes The Snowglobe. Of all the Watchmen paraphernalia, Batman chooses the Watchmen snowglobe, recognised as a dangerous thing. But why? Well, maybe it’s what you need to shake things up. The blackboard mentions the death of Thomas Wayne, his father, the Flashpoint Batman, who was killed at the hands of Darkseid in Justice League Incarnate. Might Bruce Wayne be able to rub that piece of history out and rescue his dad? And it may have worked. Because the world of Flashpoint is very much back, somewhere, somewhen. Except Thomas Wayne can remember his death and seems committed to trying to make his world into the one he left, including trying to get the superheroes to be the superheroes that they never were, on his Earth. Just as Barry Allen reached out to Thomas Wayne to escape Flashpoint, so Wayne reaches out to Allen. Not with entirely stellar results.

5. Superman Landed Badly. In the original Flashpoint, Superman’s craft didn’t land on a Smallville farm but in the centre of Metropolis, killing several people. In this world that is now tend of thousands. What has Degaton been up to? Does Roger Hayden, the Psycho-Pirate currently centre stage in Detective Comics really know the truth? Or will it be left to Koyuki Nakano? And does everything really matter?

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #0 (OF 6) CVR A DEXTER SOY
(W) Geoff Johns (A) Eduardo Risso (CA) Dexter Soy
The world of Flashpoint returns! After sacrificing everything to help the Flash put the universe back together and save Bruce Wayne’s life, Thomas Wayne wakes up in a world he thought was no more. Forced to don the cowl once again, Batman prowls the streets of Gotham searching for answers to how this world still exists, but what he starts to uncover will send him hurtling around the globe. The hunt for the Clockwork Killer starts here! Legendary writer Geoff Johns comes back to the alternate world he created, partnering with prolific artist Eduardo Risso as he returns to the Flashpoint Batman!
Retail: $5.99 In-Store Date: 4/12/2022

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #1 (OF 6) CVR A MITCH GERADS
(W) Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams, Tim Sheridan (A) Xermanico (CA) Mitch Gerads
Batman’s hunt for the Clockwork Killer brings him to Europe and face to face with the mad king, Aquaman. On the eve of Aquaman’s sinking of London, Batman infiltrates his stronghold and goes on the warpath for answers. Nothing matters to Batman, whose world is already dead, but if he can track down the Clockwork Killer, Thomas can save his son’s world and put everything back together again.
Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 5/3/2022

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #2 (OF 6) CVR A MITCH GERADS
(W) Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams (A) Xermanico (CA) Mitch Gerads
The DC event of 2022 continues! As Thomas Wayne investigates the continuing mystery of the Clockwork Killer, another mystery erupts when a strange inmate within Arkham claims that Bruce Wayne is the only Batman that should exist. And Thomas’s world is again turned upside down when a new, twisted version of an iconic Batman villain is born. Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 6/7/20227

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #3 (OF 6) CVR A MITCH GERADS
(W) Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams (A) Xermanico (CA) Mitch Gerads
The DC event of 2022 continues! Thomas Wayne’s investigation into the Clockwork Killer goes sideways when he is confronted by a deadly alien invader the world knows as…Project: Superman? But what’s happened to the Kryptonian and Krypton in the World of Flashpoint? Will Thomas Wayne do what he has to in order to stop Superman—or has he changed? And what are those strange earthquakes now erupting across reality? Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 7/5/2022

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #4 (OF 6) CVR B XERMANICO CARD STOCK VAR
(W) Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams (A/CA) Xermanico
Thomas is quickly closing in on the Clockwork Killer, but his investigation might be impeded by young Dexter Dent and his own vigilante agenda: breaking his mother out of Arkham! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 8/2/2022

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #5 (OF 6) CVR A MITCH GERADS
(W) Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams (A) Xermanico (CA) Mitch Gerads
The Clockwork Killer’s identity is finally revealed as the dust settles after the showdown at Arkham Asylum. But as we learn the truth behind how the Clockwork Killer came to be, Thomas is faced with a reality-altering choice!
Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 9/6/2022